Rose Evans
by Kasamyra
Summary: While Petunia, the oldest sister, preferred etiquette to imagination, the two younger girls, Lily and Rose, had no such qualms. Growing up was an adventure, one they took advantage of even after being separated for school. After Lily's death, Harry was given to Petunia who, wanting nothing to do with him, gave him to Rose. Having a loving parent can make a world of difference.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

"Mrs. Jacobs said that a family moved into that old house on top of the hill," Mrs. Evans told her husband over lunch. Rose, the youngest of the three at only seven years of age, glanced over at her slightly older sister, Lily. At eight and a half years of age, Lily had led the two of them on countless adventures, whether it be pretend in the backyard, or real adventures around the small neighborhood. Mrs. Evans knew that the two girls left the yard frequently, but she trusted the neighbors to keep an eye out, as she did for their children.

Lily glanced at Rose and grinned, seeing the younger girl was already anxious to go check out the new people. They both looked over at Petunia, knowing that she would likely stop them, or tag along and nag the whole time. At nearly eleven years of age, Petunia liked to act like she was in charge, and when the two younger girls did things their own way, which happened quite often, Petunia would get mad and storm home, which sometimes resulted in trouble for the younger two, depending on what they had been doing and what Petunia told their parents.

"Do they have any children?" Petunia asked, daintily picking through her plate of food. She hadn't noticed the younger two, which made both of them let out a sigh of relief at the same time.

"I'm not sure honey," Mrs. Evans said, frowning in thought.

"We can invite them over for dinner tomorrow evening," Mr. Evans said, folding up that mornings paper and setting it beside his already finished plate. "That way we can get to know them a little."

"Alright, I'll go up there in a bit then," Mrs. Evans said, then turned to frown at the girls. "You two still haven't finished cleaning your room like I told you to this morning, so you may not come along. Petunia, you may accompany me if you wish."

"No thank you," Petunia said, her nose lifted in the air. "I have to work on my summer homework."

Lily rolled her eyes. School had only let out a few days ago, Petunia would have weeks to work on homework, but she always wanted to do it as soon as possible. Lily had always done hers before the end of the summer, but she liked to have a little break from school work for a while. Rose, at six, didn't have much homework set to her over the summer, just a few easy level books to read, but she always waited until the last week of break to do so.

After the meal, Lily and Rose were sent up to the room they shared to clean it up. Really, there wasn't too much to do, just some toys and books on the floor, and a small pile of clothes to fold and put away, but both girls immediately flopped down onto the floor to continue their game from before lunch with their dolls. After half an hour of this, they watched out the window as their mother left to go talk to the new neighbors.

"Maybe if we clean up she'll let us out to play before dinner," Lily suggested, watching her mother disappear around the corner

"Okay," Rose agreed, turning to the toys on the floor. She scooped up as many as she could carry at one time, bringing them over to the trunk at the end of her bed that was specifically for toys and dumping them inside. Lily put away the clothes, clumsily but neatly enough. They both made their beds, Lily helping Rose when the small girl struggled to get the blankets to lay flat. They were finished when their mother returned home.

Both girls flew down the stairs, Lily's long red hair hitting Rose in the face as they did so. Rose's own hair, a light blonde color, only went down to her shoulders after getting tree sap stuck in it and having to get it cut out only weeks before.

"Mum, can we go to the park please?" Lily asked, slightly out of breath as she skidded to a stop in front of the woman.

"Is your room clean?" The woman asked, fighting to keep a smile off her face as she took in the solemn faces of both the girls as they nodded. "Alright, but be back for dinner."

The two girls took off out the back door, both grinning as they ran. The aforementioned park ran behind the entire row of houses on this street, and all the ones on the next street over, all the way up to the house on the top of the hill. They ran the whole way, stopping only when they reached the row of hedges blocking the view from the park to the houses. After a moments argument of whether to hide in the bushes or climb the tree, they decided on the tree. They both climbed it as high as they could, then settled in to spy on their new neighbors through the thick leaves.

It was a while before they saw any movement in the old house, and Rose had grown bored enough to start watching the bugs on the branches when Lily whispered to her.

"Look," she said, her voice quiet. Rose turned back to the house, seeing a tall, black haired man and a shorter, black haired woman on the front porch. They couldn't hear what was being said, but the two girls recognized the signs of an argument. They glanced at each other, frowning. Then, through the back door came a much smaller figure, also with dark hair. His clothing was hanging off him and even from this distance, they could tell he was small and tired looking. They couldn't tell if he was Roses age, or maybe a bit older, since he was small. The boy didn't come into the park so they couldn't talk to him, and after a while the two adults went back inside. The boy stayed outside, laying on the grass and watching the clouds after having finished exploring the back yard while the adults had been arguing.

"Let's get back," Lily said after a while. It wasn't dark out yet, but the sun was at the point that told them that dinner would be soon. The two of them made their way out of the tree, then ran home, soon forgetting the arguing neighbors in favor of dinner and bed time.

* * *

It was almost a week later when the girls had time to go back to the park. Between visits to their grandparents house and shopping trips with their mother, Lily and Rose had nearly forgotten their new neighbors. Petunia had come with them this time, but she was in a good mood and offered to push Lily on the swings. Rose, who didn't like swings, was given firm instructions to stay near the other girls. She took this to mean within view, so she wandered down the small pond in the middle of the park where tall trees grew and sometimes, if she was lucky, she could catch a frog.

Rose made it all the way down to the waters edge before she saw the boy with dark clothes under a nearby tree. A globe of water containing a small fish floated in front of him for half a second as he stared at her in surprise. She took a half step back and the globe burst, the fish falling back into the pond. Neither child spoke for a moment.

"What are you looking at?" The boy asked in a harsh, snotty voice.

"You're the boy who just moved in up the hill right?" Rose asked, ignoring his tone. His eyes narrowed.

"What's it to you?" He asked, his voice conveying his anger.

"I'm Rose," she said, taking a step closer. "What's your name?"

"Like I'd tell a stupid muggle like you," he said, spitting the word 'muggle' out like it was a spoiled food. She didn't know what it meant, but she had heard Petunia's friends use swear words before, so she figured it was another one of those.

"That thing you just did, with the water," she said, gesturing to the now smooth surface of the pond.

"What about it?" He asked, propping his hands on his hips like her mother did when she was angry.

"Well my sister can do that too," Rose said excitedly. "Not like that exactly, but one time she lifted up all the soil in mum's garden when she was mad without touching it. And sometimes she can make our toys move around too. I can't do it, but she says it's easy."

"Really?" He asked, dropping the rude act. "She's a witch?"

"That's a mean word," Rose said, her eyes narrowing at the boy.

"Who's your sister?" He asked, ignoring her.

"I'm not telling you," she said, crossing her arms.

"Fine I'll figure it out by myself," he said angrily, then turned and marched away from her. She watched him go for a minute, frowning after him, then turned to run back to her sisters.

* * *

"Are you sure it's okay that I come with you?" Rose asked, following Lily from their back yard into the park. The two girls had been allowed outside for the rest of the afternoon after showing their mother their completed homework.

"Of course it is," Lily said, pushing her hair over one shoulder. Lily had grown only a little in the last two years, and Rose, now nine years old, was the same height as her sister.

"But Severus threatened to push me into the pond if I came back," Rose said with a pout.

Despite her initial refusal to tell the strange boy who her sister was, he had figured it out anyway after less than a week. He was nice to Lily, after she showed him that she could make a flower blossom into a full bloom in her hand, but he was always rude to Rose when she came along, and he hated Petunia even though he had only met her a few times.

"That was days ago, he won't even remember," Lily said, brushing off her sisters worries.

Severus had grown to be a little less mean to Rose in the last two years that he had lived up the street from them. At first he had refused to talk to her at all, but then Lily finally got mad at him and told him that if he couldn't be nice to Rose then she would stop coming to play with him too. After than he had spoken to her on occasion, and at least not protested her presence when he and Lily talked about magical things.

"If he does push me in the water, I'm telling mum that you did it," she said, brushing a piece of blonde hair out of her blue eyes.

Their mother, after several refusals from Severus's parents for a dinner together, had forbade the girls from spending time near the house, or the boy. Lily and Rose, of course, had ignored this new rule, but they became more careful about where Petunia was when they went to the park. Sometimes Petunia wouldn't tell, but then sometimes she would threaten to tell on them if they didn't do things for her, like chores.

"Fine," Lily said, waving off the threat as she ducked between the hanging branches of a willow tree that grew on the edge of the pond.

This tree was the preferred hideout of the two girls, even when Severus couldn't join them, because it shielded them from view of the houses and, better yet, Petunia didn't know about it. The long leafy vines cut them off from the park, and the trees thick roots offered them many places to sit above the always moist ground below. The wide, sturdy branches allowed an easy climb up into the tree if they so wished.

"You brought the muggle again?" The snide voice greeted them from his place on the tree roots.

"Don't call her that," Lily said, her hands on her hips as she narrowed her green eyes at Severus, who just shrugged in return.

"It's fine, Lily," Rose said, climbing up onto her favorite branch of the tree. "I am a muggle, I don't mind."

"But you might not be," Lily said, relaxing a little as she picked her way over the roots to sit beside Severus. "You might have magic and it just hasn't shown yet."

"I think it would have by now if I had any," Rose said, leaning back against the trunk of the tree. "You could do it when you were eight."

"She's right," Severus said, picking a stone from a small pile of them he had gathered and holding it in a flat palm as he spoke. "Most magical children show signs of it early, around six."

"Well, maybe it's just late for her," Lily argued back.

Rose knew that Lily was disappointed that she couldn't do any magic. She didn't want to be the only one in the family to go off to the school Severus talked about. On one of their many late nights staying up talking about magic in their room, Lily had told Rose about how scared she was about her parents finding out, and about going away for most of the year for school. Rose wished she could go with her, she didn't want to be stuck with only Petunia in the house, but Rose had tried over and over to do the things Lily could, but none of them had worked. Severus also knew how scared Lily was about her parents finding out, and how much she wanted Rose to go along too, so he dropped the subject. Instead, he concentrated on the stone in his hand until it rose a few inches into the air and hung there. Lily picked up a stone as well, trying to copy him, but she was better with plants and some of the toys in the bedroom.

A stick cracking nearby broke Severus's concentration and the stone fell back into his palm as he looked around. Rose, who was closest to the sound was the first to see the dark haired Petunia making her way through the tree's thick branches.

"It's Tuney," Rose hissed to the others, and Severus and Lily immediately jumped up and disappeared through the branches on the other side of the tree. Moments later, Petunia was standing in front of Rose, hands on her hips as she peered around.

"Why are you down here? And where is Lily?" Petunia asked, her voice not as snobby as usual. She saved most of her dislike for Lily and Severus.

Rose knew that Petunia was jealous of the magic they had, though the girl had called them freaks when she found out. Rose had seen Petunia in the gardens many times, trying to copy Lily's magic until she was pouring sweat from the effort.

"She was on the swings a minute ago," Rose said, shrugging as she lied. "I got bored so I came down here to catch some frogs but I couldn't find any."

"Well she's not on the swings now," Petunia complained, frowning. "And you are supposed to stay with her, mum said."

"Sorry," Rose said, her voice making it plain that she wasn't sorry at all."She's probably off with that other freak, doing that freaky stuff," Petunia said, her voice growing snotty as she spoke. Rose just shrugged again, not saying anything. Petunia quickly grew bored of this and sighed. "Well if you see her, tell her mum's looking for her. She got a letter with the post."

"Sure," Rose said, not moving from her place in the tree as Petunia huffed, then stalked off back into the park."She's gone," Rose called after a few moments. The other two came back under the tree.

"I should go back to the house," Lily said, though she plopped back onto the tree roots with a sigh. "I never get post. It's probably important."

"It'll be your Hogwarts letter," Severus said smugly, smiling at her. "Mine came this morning by owl but I suppose they do it differently when you're muggle."

"Oh," Lily said, fighting between joy and worry for a moment. Joy won out in the end. "I'll go open it then. Will we see you tomorrow?"

"I expect so," he said, frowning. "Do you have to bring her?" He waved a hand at Rose and she felt a sudden force shove her off her branch. She fell to the ground with a huff, then got to her feet.

"You didn't have to use magic on me, I was going to go anyway," Rose said, wiping the dirt off her dress.

"I didn't do it on purpose," he argued back, then saw Lily's expression and put his hands up in front of him. "Honest, it was an accident."

"Then apologize," Lily said, hands on her hips.

"Don't make him do that," Rose said, chuckling as the usually rude boy coward under her sister's gaze. "It's so out of character for him I think his head would explode." Lily chuckled at that too, and the tension left them.

"See you tomorrow then," Lily said, turning to leave the cover of the tree. "Both of us will."

"Fine," Severus said, looking resigned, then he turned his back on them and left the opposite way they did.

Lily and Rose ran the distance back to the house. It was the middle of July, and it was sweltering hot out, but they both wore light cotton dresses, and Rose had her hair braided and pinned up to keep it off her neck, so she was cool enough. Lily refused to do anything more than brush out her long hair, and she would not sit still long enough for their mother to put it up, so by the time they got back to the house, her red hair was windblown and tangled.

Rose went with Lily to find their parents and open the letter because Lily begged her to, and sure enough, Severus was right.

The thick, slightly yellowed parchment, held a welcome letter and lists of books and things Lily would need for school, along with a short note saying that a professor would stop by the house that evening at six to explain more throughly.

Their parents thought at first that the letter was a joke, but Lily showed them how she could make the flowers bloom, and Rose and Petunia both said they had seen it before, though Petunia said so in a very snotty manner.

By the time six in the evening rolled around, Lily was excited, and their parents had accepted the fact that their child could do strange things.

Rose and Petunia were sent to their rooms when a knock on the door sounded right at six, and Petunia stomped up the stairs and slammed her door while Rose hid herself at the top of the stairs to listen.

The professor from the school was a tall old man with long, graying hair and an equally long, graying beard. He wore half moon shaped spectacles over sparkling blue eyes, and he was dressed very oddly in a long black cloak and matching pointed hat.

"Mr and Mrs. Evans, I presume?" He asked in a deep, very soothing voice. "My name is Albus Dumbledore, I'm the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. May I come inside, I'm sure you have questions."

"Yes of course," Mrs. Evans said, her need to be polite overpowering any misgivings she'd had at the sight of the man. "Would you like some tea?"

"That would be lovely," he said, stepping into the house. The door closed behind him though no one had touched it. Lily grinned up the stairs when all three adults had their backs turned. She knew that Rose would be watching from around the corner. Rose grinned back.

The man spent nearly an hour answering questions for the couple and for Lily, after which he offered to take Lily and their parents shopping in Diagon Alley for her things the next day.

"Mum, can Rose come along too please?" Lily asked as the man stood to leave. Her parents, much to Lily's relief, had been excited for her instead of disgusted as Petunia had said they would be. Rose held her breath as she waited for her parents to answer.

"Well," her mother said slowly. "I suppose she will have to, if that's alright with you Mr. Dumbledore. I can't leave her here alone, and my husband will be working all day, so the girls will have to come along."

"Yes, yes, it's perfectly alright," Dumbledore said, and Rose grinned from her hiding place. She didn't like that Petunia would come along too, that would make the trip less fun, but it would be worth it to see a place like what Dumbledore had described to them.

"Thank you," Mrs. Evans said, walking with Dumbledore to the door. "We will see you tomorrow morning then."

"I look forward to it," the man said, then he left the house. Rose ran into her room to watch him leave, but she must have been too slow because by the time she got to her window, the street below was empty.

* * *

"Lily!" Rose called out through the crowded train platform as she spotted her sister bright red hair bouncing between the other muggles as she pushed her trolley. Rose jumped up and down, waving her arms over her head though she knew Lily had already seen her.

Rose was taller than her sister already, something she pointed out every Christmas and summer break. Her twelfth birthday had just passed a few weeks before, and she was pleased to see that Lily, at thirteen, was still shorter than her.

"Rose!" Lily shouted from ten feet away, drawing the gazes of several muggles to her.

Ever since the first time Rose and her mother had gone to King Cross to pick Lily up for the holidays, it had become a tradition for the two of them to greet each other loudly in an overly excited manner. Their mother let them make a scene only because she herself was also excited to see her middle child, and because she knew it hurt Lily's feelings that Petunia refused to go anywhere near the station because, as she said, it was 'full of freaks'. Lily released her trolley and jumped into Rose's open arms, vigorously hugging her sister.

Rose pretended to weep loudly in an over dramatic way, relishing the glances of passerby's. Their mother had stopped the still moving trolley with Lily's trunk on it, waiting for the two girls to pull apart with a smile on her face, then she too swept in and hugged Lily before leading the two girls out to her car. It took all three of them to lift the heavy trunk into the boot of the car.

"See you next term Evans," a boys pompous voice rang out from several car lengths away.

Rose and Lily turned to look as their mother had already gotten into the car.

The boy who had shouted had dark, messy hair and round glasses over his slightly tanned face. He grinned at Lily and gave a half wave, half salute, then turned and sauntered back to one of his friends, another boy with black hair.

Lily rolled her eyes and pulled Rose into the car.

"Who was that?" Rose whispered as their mother, in the front seat, turned on the radio.

"James Potter," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "He's a git."

"He's the one that put frog spawn in your book bag, isn't he?" Rose asked.

Lily had sent almost weekly letters to her sister throughout the last three years at school, and Rose felt as though she knew some of her sisters classmates as well as Lily herself did from her descriptions of them.

"Yes," Lily said, sniffing as she frowned. "He's so arrogant, always playing with that stupid snitch."

Rose understood what she was talking about only because Lily had left all her previous years school books in her old bedroom and Rose had read through all of them out of interest, memorizing everything. Rose treated the school books as another world almost, a fantasy world where she could escape to every time Petunia was being snotty or she had no where else to go.

During her time back, Lily and Rose would talk about all the spells Lily had learned that year, though Lily wasn't allowed to use magic outside of school. Petunia didn't ever want to hear anything about any of it.

The two girls had found out that Petunia had written to the headmaster, only days after his visit to the house. She had stolen Lily's new owl to do it, and had begged the man to let her into the school as well. He had written back that she could not attend as she did not have any magic, and Lily and Rose had found the letter in her room on one of their snooping trips. Neither girl had told Petunia that they had read it, but it was something they snickered about in private.

Lily had given up her hoping that Rose would also receive a letter last summer, when Rose's eleventh birthday came and passed without a single owl, but the girls stayed close even while Lily was away.

"How's Sev?" Rose asked, changing the subject.

The dark haired boy had warmed up to Rose only enough to be civil most of the time now. They had even hung out under the tree a couple times alone when Lily wasn't allowed out of the house during some summer days. They didn't speak, but both would sit on the tree roots and branches, sometimes silently daring each other to climb higher, sometimes just sitting in silence. Rose would often bring a book with her, and Severus would usually spend the time staring up at the clouds that were barely visible through the thick leafy branches.

"He's okay," Lily said quietly, glancing up at their mother. They still weren't technically allowed to see the strange boy who lived up the hill, but their mother was more lenient about who they spent time with now that both of them were almost teen aged. "He doesn't really talk to me much at school anymore. At least, not in front of his friends."

"Why not?" Rose asked, shocked. She had always thought that Severus had a crush on her sister.

"Well, he's in Slytherin, and I'm in Gryffindor, and our houses don't really get on," Lily said, shrugging. Rose could tell that her sister was upset about tit but she was playing it off. "And his new friends don't like muggles, or muggle-borns."

"That's stupid," Rose said, rolling her eyes. "Why does it matter who you're friends with?"

"Well, there's this wizard, he used dark magics and thinks that only pure blood witches and wizards should be allowed to use magic," Lily began, her voice low as both girls leaned in. "He's evil, and he has a lot of followers, and most of the followers were also in Slytherin house."

"Does he kill people?" Rose asked, her eyes wide and her voice equally low.

"They think so, but it's hard to know for sure because no one wants to make him mad by accusing him of it," Lily explained. "But everyone says he does."

"Does Severus follow him too?" Rose asked, frowning in concern for her sister.

"No," Lily said, brushing off the question as she straightened in her seat. "He's much too young." Her voice shook as she spoke though, and Rose understood that Lily was afraid her friend would become a follower.

"Oh, we got a dog while you were away," Rose said, changing the subject again. "His name's Philip, after the Duke of Edinburgh. Petunia named him," Rose added with an eye roll.

"What kind is he?" Lily asked excitedly. The girls had been begging their parents for a dog for years, even Petunia wanted to have one, and they had finally relented on Rose's birthday a couple weeks previously, though they specified that he was to be a family dog, not just Rose's.

"He's a black lab," Rose said, grinning. "He's still a puppy though, so he's quite small."

She didn't mention that the puppy liked to sleep on her bed the most, or how Petunia had decided, within a week of getting the dog, that she no longer wanted it because it was too messy. Rose was the one who took him to the park and walked him and fed him and cleaned up after him.

The remainder of the car ride passed quickly with Rose telling stories of what the puppy had gotten up to recently, and Lily telling stories about her time at school.

* * *

"I can't believe you are starting finishing school tomorrow," Lily said, watching Rose from across the room as she brushed out her long blonde hair and began to braid it.

Rose had protested when her mother first brought up the finishing school. She didn't want to go to the same place Petunia went, even though the older girl was already finished with school. Girls at St. Magnus's Finishing School were expected to be quiet and proper and well behaved. Rose didn't want to be any of those things, especially since Petunia had taken to giving her pointers on how to behave, continually pointing out all the things Rose did that were 'unladylike'.

Unfortunately, at fifteen, Rose didn't really have much of a choice on where to go. She could either finish secondary school this year and stay at home, or continue on to finishing school.

Petunia was engaged to be married now, but not until the next year, and Rose had decided that going away for school would be much better than sitting at home listening to Petunia go over wedding plans.

"You're one to talk," Rose said, smiling at her sisters reflection in the mirror she sat in front of. She tied off her braid and coiled it at the back of her head and began to pin it up neatly. "Tomorrow you're leaving too. It's your last year, are you excited?"

"Very," Lily said, smiling as she leaned against the wall across from the vanity to watch Rose. "Professor Slughorn thinks I have a real knack for potions. He said that he could pull some strings and get me a summer internship at St. Mungos, and then if they like me I could train to become a healer."

"Summer internship?" Rose asked, her voice carefully even, not betraying any of her emotions, but Lily could see through that.

"Oh Rose," she said, sighing as the blonde girl began to put on a light layer of makeup over her eyelids. "You know we can't live together forever. When I'm done with school I'll get a proper job and move into the wizarding world somewhere."

"I know," Rose said, looking down for a moment, then she sighed and went back to her makeup. "I just hoped you wouldn't want to move out till after I was done with school."

"I know," Lily said, moving behind her sister to tuck in a stray hair. "But you're the youngest, and mum needs you. You know how lonely she'll be when Tuney gets married and leaves, now that dad is gone."

Their father had passed away the previous summer, from a heart attack. It had been very sudden, but the doctor said that it was bound to happen sooner or later because the valves in his heart were weak. Lily had almost stayed home from school that year, but Rose, and their mother, had insisted they would be okay. Petunia had disagreed, loudly, which had resulted in a row between Lily and Petunia that Rose had feared would keep Lily away this summer as well."I'll miss you," Rose said, setting down the powder she had been brushing over her cheeks.

"I'll always be an owl away," Lily said, patting the top of Rose's head.

"You'll come back and visit though right?" Rose asked, her voice wavering a little.

"Of course I will," Lily said, grinning. "So often you'll get sick of me."

"That will take a while," Rose said, chuckling. The door burst open then, flinging against the wall with a bang, and Lily was almost knocked to the floor by the large black lab that ran into the room, tail wagging furiously as he licked Rose's face. The girls both laughed and Rose pushed the dog off her lap back to the floor.

"Girls!" Their mother called from below. "Tea is ready."

"Be right down, Mum," Lily called, laughing as Rose pushed the dog off her lap for a second time and made to stand.

"Come on Philip," Lily called to the dog, who followed the two girls out into the hallway. "After tea we can go to the park."


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Wow you guys, I really did not expect such a nice response from this story. Please keep up the favorites and reviews, I love them :) Anyway, here is chapter two. Sorry for any spelling or grammar errors, I rushed while writing it so that I could post it today. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter Two

"I can't believe you are getting married tomorrow!" Rose said to Lily. Both girls were laying on their childhood beds in their old shared room. Over the last couple years the room had been emptied of the toys that had previously littered the floor and had been replaced with books from both girls school years, various clothes all draped neatly over chair backs, and a few pictures. The few on Rose's side showed the young blonde with a black dog and a couple with other people, her friends from finishing school. The picture's on Lily's side were not stationary, as pictures should be, but rather they showed the energetic red head with a variety of different people, laughing or hugging or in one, swimming.

"I can't believe you are moving to France," Lily replied, her voice holding the same tone of disbelief, excitement, and a tiny mark of sadness.

"I'll be back for summers, I'm not really moving, just going to college," Rose corrected, though her voice was soft.

"You'll be the first in the family," Lily said, smiling though neither girl was looking at the other one.

Petunia hadn't even considered college, having gotten engaged directly out of school. Lily, who had finished at Hogwarts a year and a half ago, had also gotten engaged right out of school, though she had put off the wedding date for a while so that Rose would be able to attend.

"You know I'll get to make a toast at the wedding, as the maid of honor," Rose said, her voice mischievous. "Should I tell all your friends about the time I put a frog in your bed and you screamed like a baby?"

"If you do, I'll tell them all about the time you answered the door in your underwear," Lily replied, and Rose could hear the grin she wore.

"I was four," Rose said, rolling her eyes. "And their you're friends, I don't care what they think about me."

"Alright," Lily said, rolling on her side to look over at her sister. "If you embarrass me at my wedding, I'll spell your hair blue. I bet they won't like that at your prim and proper college."

"I'd get kicked out," Rose said, but she couldn't help but laugh at the image of what her teachers would do if she showed up with blue hair.

"You see my point then," Lily said, chuckling, then she sighed. "Everything's changing."

"That's life," Rose commented, but she knew what Lily meant. Soon Lily would be starting her own family. Petunia had already started hers, they had just gotten the news from her the previous day that she was two months along with a baby. Their mother had been so excited she had gone out to buy a few baby outfits, though they didn't know yet if the baby would be a boy or a girl. Lily had said she knew a spell that would tell them, but Petunia's outlook on magic had not softened over the years, and both girls knew it would result in a shouting match if it was even brought up, so Lily kept the spell to herself.

"You'll come and visit me right? Over the holiday's, and next summer?" Lily asked, her voice a little nervous.

"Of course I will," Rose said, still staring up at the ceiling. "And when you have kids you can send them to my school and I will be their favorite teacher.

"Rose had wanted to become a teacher since her first year at finishing school when she was fifteen. At first she had chosen the occupation just to keep her career councilor happy, but after a little more research, she had fallen in love with the idea. She loved children, and she was very good at teaching, she had been told so by some of the students she had tutored throughout her later school years. She had learned French from an early age, as many of the other girls in the finishing school had done, and though she could have done the two years of college required to become a teacher in London, she had chosen France instead, since she had never been and it might be her only opportunity to travel.

"What if I don't have any kids?" Lily asked, her voice tired. It was very late, or rather, early in the morning, but neither girl wanted the night to end, as it would be the last one they had together in the foreseeable future.

"Then I will be forced to buy a house next door to yours so that I can see you every day," Rose said, smiling. Her eyes had shut, and she was imagining a neighborhood similar to their current one, where the sisters both lived. She could vividly see morning coffee times before work, and shared dinners, and small blond and red haired children playing in a back yard.

"That sounds perfect," Lily said with a yawn.

"It does," Rose said, though a tear leaked out from the corner of her eye.

"You can marry Sirius," Lily said teasingly, and Rose frowned and shook her head. "He said you were cute."

"No way," Rose protested quietly, not wanting to wake anyone else in the house. "He's so pompous and arrogant."

Rose had met Lily's fiance and his friends the summer before, when Lily had invited them all to lunch. She had kept in contact with them too. She wrote to James because she had wanted to get to know her future brother in law better, and the others because they were funny and had a lot of stories about Lily during her school days. The four boys wrote to Rose because she had plenty of blackmail stories about Lily as a child. Of the four, Rose wrote to Remus the most frequently. They had educational debates most of the time, and the boy always answered Rose's questions about the magical world, no matter how stupid the girl thought they might be. Sirius's letters were always short and disjointed, but they were funny, and Rose had spent a lot of time explaining to him through letters things about the muggle world. Peter's letters were funny too, though he had a different kind of humor. He never asked about muggle things, and he wasn't very bright, but he would always tell her the truth about what was happening in the wizarding world, which the others usually hid from her because they didn't want her involved.

Peter was the one who had first told her about the state of the war, because there was a war, in their world. He had told her about the 'Dark Lord' and his followers and the people disappearing or turning up dead. James had added to her knowledge of that when she wrote to him demanding to know if it was safe for her sister to be with him.

He had said it wasn't, but that he wasn't going to let the war stop him from living, and that he would do his best to protect Lily from everything. Rose had appreciated his honesty.

"I said the same thing about James once, you know," Lily said, bring Rose back to the conversation.

"Yes, and I'm still not sure why you agreed to marry him," Rose said, her tone joking.

"He's changed," Lily said seriously, not picking up on the joking tone. "He grew up."

"Yes, well, Sirius hasn't," Rose said, chuckling as she recalled her last letter from him a couple weeks ago. He didn't ever talk about the war, or anything going on, but rather he had written that James was becoming insufferable, talking about how Lily was probably going to come around soon and realize that he wasn't good enough for her, and run off with some other bloke.

"He will though," Lily said. "Probably."

"Maybe," Rose said, shrugging off the conversation. "You should get some sleep. You don't want to pass out halfway through your wedding."

"It's okay, my dress is poofy enough that it'll hold me up," Lily said.

"I'll be sure to throw my bouquet at you when it's time to say 'I do'," Rose said, giggling.

"I'll try not to snore at the alter," Lily added, joining in the giggling.

They fell silent for a few minutes, both breathing quietly.

"I'm worried about the war," Lily whispered. Rose turned on her side to face the girl.

"Is it getting worse?" Rose asked. Lily had never outright spoken about the war before, but she knew that the others had told Rose about it.

"Yes," Lily said, her voice almost silent, as though speaking about it would make it more real. "Marlene McKinnon was killed three days ago. She was supposed to be one of my bridesmaids."

"I'm sorry," Rose whispered.

"James will fight, if it gets any worse," Lily said. "Dumbledore hasn't asked him to, but I know he will."

"Maybe you could just go into hiding," Rose suggested. "You could run away, come live with me in France."

"But people will still be dying," Lily protested. "We have to stay and fight."

"You'll be fighting too?" Rose asked, her voice small with fear.

"I'll have to," Lily said. "I'm not just going to sit at home and wonder if James... I have to fight too."

"I understand," Rose said, though she wished she didn't have to. Lily had never been one to back down and let others do the fighting for her. She was always in the midst of things, standing up for herself and her family. "But you'll keep writing to me?"

"Every week," Lily promised. They were silent for a few long minutes, and Rose was almost sure Lily had fallen asleep.

"I love you Lily," Rose whispered.

"I love you too Rosie," Lily replies just as quietly. "Always."

* * *

The wedding the next day had gone beautifully. Petunia and her new husband had shown up, and were being somewhat civil to Lily, though they avoided anyone who was obviously a wizard. The only members of Lily's family that had been invited were her mother and sisters, so the rest of the guests were all James's friends and family, and were all magical. Most of them wore the long cloaks that Rose and come to associate with magic.

The reception was long and full of laughter and sunlight. There were many long speeches from James's friends, his parents, Lily's mum, and finally, it was Rose's turn. She stood from her place directly next to Lily and cleared her throat delicately, as the nun's from her finishing school had taught her to do.

"Oi!" James called over the talking when no one quieted down. "Shut it!" The group fell silent with a few chuckled and looked up to the head table.

Rose's dress was a pale blue color, matching the other three girls who Lily had known from school that were bridesmaids. Her golden hair was braided back into a coil, her usual style for the last few years, and she had an easy smile on her face, even though she was a little nervous about talking in front of so many people.

"Hello everyone," she began when the noise had died down. "I know you are all just about sick of speeches by now, but I just have a few things to say, and then we can get to the cake." She paused as the audience gave the chuckle she had intended to get. "My lovely sister Lily has forbade me from telling any embarrassing stories of her youth, and has threatened to tell embarrassing stories of me if I break my word, so I'll apologize in advance for another boring speech." She paused again for another chuckle. "The first time I saw James Potter, was at the end of their third year of school, at Kings Cross station. He had called across the parking lot that he would see her next term, and when I asked Lily who he was, she said "James Potter, he's a git." The people chuckled again as Lily's face turned a little red. "I received at least one letter a week while Lily was away at school, and I think I can count on one hand the number of letters that _didn't_ mention James Potter. I've written down a few of the better ones to share with you." Rose lifted up a piece of paper and cleared her throat dramatically. "James Potter, that prat, got me a weeks worth of detentions from McGonagall because he lit my homework on fire as I was handing it in." She paused again for the chuckle. "James Potter scored higher than I did on our Charms exam, he must have been cheating because he usually doesn't have two thoughts to rub together." There was a louder laugh at that one. "I can't believe James Potter is Head Boy, all he does is play quidditch and chase girls, he's such a bad example to the first years." Rose smiled a little as she heard Sirius's unique bark of laughter over the titter of the crowd. "With the amount of time my sister spent complaining about James, it's almost a wonder that she had time to study for her classes at all. I must admit that when Lily told me, at the beginning of her seventh year, that she was dating James, I was surprised. I thought they had been dating for at least a year by that point." Another chuckle went through the tables, and Rose turned to look at James. "James, I know that things in your world aren't the safest at the moment, but there is no one I would trust more to keep my sister safe. Lily has always been adventurous, and I did my best to keep her out of trouble when we were growing up, and if I have to pass that job off to someone else, I can't think of anyone better suited to take over. I've never seen Lily as happy as she has been the last year or so, and I have no doubts that you will continue making her happy. Lily," Rose said, turning to her sister. She blinked back the tears that threatened and delicately cleared her throat again. "Lily, ever since you got engaged I've viewed the whole situation as losing you. I know you said that you would write, but for the last year it's felt like we have been growing apart, going our separate ways. I can see now though, that I'm not losing a sister, I'm gaining a brother. And James, I would threaten you that if you hurt her I'll hurt you, but Lily has always been able to take care of herself. Welcome to the family."Rose sat down as a final chuckle went through the tables and a round of light applause at her speech went through the gathering.

Lily hugged her tightly from her seat as soon as she sat down, and Rose wrapped her arms around her sister's shoulders, then pulled back as Lily wiped a few tears away and smiled.

* * *

"That was a very nice speech," the voice came from behind Rose, and she turned in surprise. Most of the guests had avoided Rose and her mother and sister, as they all knew each other from school or from the wizarding world. In fact the only person that had talked to any of them was James and Sirius.

"Thanks," Rose said with a smile, recognizing Remus. They had only spoken in person a couple of times, but Rose felt like she knew him well from their letters. "What are you doing these days, now that you aren't in school anymore?"

"I've been doing a bit of odd work here and there," Remus said with a shrug. "It's a bit difficult for me to find a job right now."

"Because of the war?" Rose asked, her face solemn.

"Among other things," Remus said with a half smile.

"Is it really that bad?" Rose asked with a frown.

"Not yet," Remus said, his voice soft. "But it's getting worse. It might start affecting the muggle world soon."

"Are you... well... Lily said that they would fight in the war," Rose said, stepping a bit closer to him so she wouldn't be overheard by anyone nearby.

"If it gets bad enough, we all will have to fight," Remus said, nodding slightly.

"But that will be dangerous," Rose said, though there was no need for her to point that out.

"Don't tell me you are worried about us, baby Evans," Sirius said from behind them, draping one arm over her shoulder, and the other over Remus's.

"I'm eighteen years old and hardly a baby," Rose said indignantly, shrugging his arm off her small shoulders with a scowl.

"You'll always be the baby of the family," Sirius said grinning. "But don't worry about us." His voice grew uncharacteristically serious. "You go off to college in France and leave the worrying to us. We will be fine."

"How did you know I'm going to France?" Rose asked, not noticing that he had successfully changed the subject.

"Lily told me," he said, shrugging. Then he chuckled at her raised eyebrow. "Okay, so she told James and I happened to overhear."

"France? What will you be studying?" Remus asked, keeping the conversation away from anything unpleasant.

"I'd like to be a primary school teacher," Rose said, her cheeks turning a little red. She didn't like talking about herself, it felt selfish. "I'm going to do my two years of schooling in France, then come back to London for work."

"Rose, may I have a word," Petunia called from behind the little group, successfully interrupting whatever the boys were going to say in response.

"Of course," Rose said, smiling at them all. "Excuse me," she said to the boys, then followed Petunia a short ways away.

"Will you please tell our sister that Vernon and I send our congratulations and our apologies that we must be on our way early?" Rose sighed lightly at the formality of the words, but corrected her face into a polite smile anyway, knowing that the only reason Petunia didn't ignore her like she did Lily was because she thought that Rose had been educated to be a

proper lady'

"Of course," Rose said, nodding her head slightly. "Are you feeling ill?" She asked, knowing that morning sickness usually came along with pregnancy in it's early stages.

"Ill is one term for it," Petunia said airily, pointedly looking away from the nearby people in wizarding robes. Rose sighed again at that. While James had done some growing up over the years, Petunia had not.

"I'll see you again before I leave for Paris," Rose said, trying to get the subject away from Petunia's prejudices. "Perhaps we could go out to lunch?"

"That sounds pleasant," Petunia said. "I must go now." She turned and walked over to Vernon, who's round face was drawn in distaste. After a short whispered conversation, they both turned and left the small outdoor area designated for the wedding party.

Rose turned and scanned the crowd for Lily, and saw that the girl had been watching her already. She quirked an eyebrow in question and Rose shrugged in response, shaking her head a bit. She hated the sad look that took over Lily's face for a moment before the other girl pasted on a smile and turned back to her own conversation.

* * *

"Rose!" Lily called, waving over the crowds of people at the station. Rose turned to watch her sister weave through the muggles, a strong sense of deja vu coming over her. They had been in this position several times over the years, but now it was reversed. Rose was the one pushing the trolley with a trunk on it towards a train, and Lily was the one waving her off.

"I didn't think you were coming," Rose said when Lily caught up to her, breathing heavily. James was only a few moments behind her, though Rose hadn't seen him at first.

"We got held up," Lily said, grinning. "A couple of death eaters were patrolling in Diagon Alley and we had to hide out for a bit to avoid them."

"Are you okay?" Rose asked, her eyes scanning over first her sister, then her brother in law.

"We're fine, don't worry," James said, grinning down at the shorter girl as he wrapped an arm around Lily's shoulders. "I think the war is winding down a bit now."

Rose shook her head a little but didn't comment. She knew he was just saying that to try to make her worry less. Peter's letter only a week before had listed almost a dozen people that were missing or dead and even though she knew none of them, she mourned their losses.

"I thought you said it wasn't safe to go to Diagon Alley anymore," Rose commented, glaring at her sister. Lily flipped her hair over her shoulder at the look and grinned.

"I got you a going away present," Lily said, glancing up at James with a soft smile. Rose smiled too, glad to see her sister looking so happy. "But I didn't bring it. I'll send it on later, once you get settled."

"I hope it's not too magical," Rose commented. "I'll be living in dorms you know. It'll be hard to hide anything too big from my room mates."

"Don't worry,"Lily said, chuckling. "It'll be useful for the year."

"Useful doesn't always mean practical to you," Rose said, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Stop fussing," Lily said, pulling her into a hug. "We'll see you for Christmas?"

"Of course," Rose said, pulling back from her sister. James gave her a hug as well, then helped her lift her trunk onto her train, leaving from Platform 7.

"Bye!" Rose called out of her open carriage window as the train gave a loud whistle and began to move. "I love you!"

"Love you too!" Lily called back, waving as the train moved away from the platform. Rose didn't see her sister turn into James's arms for a moment, nor did she see the lines of stress on both faces when they let their smiles fall. The war was much worse than either one of them wanted to tell Rose, and Lily couldn't help but be glad her sister would be out of the country if the fighting broke out.

* * *

Lily had practically begged her sister not to come back for Christmas and Rose, using the new owl Lily had sent to her, had told her there was now way she wasn't coming home. Nothing could keep Rose away for the break, and as soon as she had put her things away in her old childhood bedroom she wrote a letter to Lily. Philip, the now very old and slightly graying black lab sat lazily at the door while Rose paced in the hallway, waiting for her sister to show up as Rose had demanded in her letter.

"Rose, dear," he mother called from the kitchen. "I think there's an owl outside for you.

"Rose dashed to the kitchen window and pulled it open letting her owl, Winnie, inside. She glanced over the letter, then smiled a little.

"Lily and James will be coming for dinner, mum," Rose said, poking her head around the corner to see her mother in the living room. "Would you like me to cook something?"

"If you wouldn't mind," her mother said with a sigh. Rose knew that at a little over 60, her mothers knees bothered her if she stood for too long.

"How does a casserole sound?" Rose asked as she walked back over to pull the fridge open. "I think you have all the things here for it."

"I'm sure anything you want to make will be fine," her mother called back. Rose set about preparing the casserole, and after it was in the oven, she put together a salad and put some leftover rolls in a dish on top of the oven so that they would be a little warm for dinner.

"Mum? Rose?" Lily called from the door. Rose shed her oven mitts and ran out to the entry way to hug her sister, then James, tightly. Her mother followed behind her, hugging both of the newcomers as well.

The four of them sat down at the table as Rose hurried to put everything out where it should be. With Christmas only two weeks away, snow was blanketed on the ground outside, but Lily and James had managed not to track any moisture in with them. Rose noticed this, and immediately figured out that it meant they had both apparated there. She also knew that Lily hated apparating and she only did so when it was absolutely necessary. From that, Rose inferred that the war must have gotten worse, to the point that it wasn't safe for them to travel the muggle way anymore. She didn't bring it up in front of their mother though, knowing that Lily wouldn't want to worry her.

The conversation over dinner was light and mostly just catching up. Petunia was now seven months pregnant and the doctors had said it was a boy. This news came from her mother as Petunia no longer spoke to Lily, and she had only written Rose a couple times since she had left for school.

"How was your first semester abroad?" James asked when the talk of Petunia grew tense. Rose smiled.

"Magnifique!" Rose replied with a grin. "Les garons en France sont beaucoup plus attrayants que ceux d'ici."

Lily giggled at the words, though James looked confused.

"She said that the boys there are cuter," Lily explained, and James gave a crooked grin while their mother just chuckled.

"Thank you for dinner mum," Lily said a while later when the dishes had been piled into the sink and the leftovers put away. "It was delicious."

"Actually Rosie made it," her mother said with a smile.

"Really?" Lily asked, surprised. "I didn't know you could cook Rose."

"Well I had to learn to feed myself while I was at school," Rose said with a chuckle. "My room mate is a culinary major so she taught me some things."

"Well it was really good," Lily said. "You'll have to come over and help me with Christmas dinner. You both are invited."

"I'd love to," Rose said, grinning.

"While we are here we have some news," Lily said, her mouth drawn up into a smile.

"Well?" Rose asked when she was quiet for a moment. "What is it?"

"Didn't they teach you to be patient at finishing school?" Lily asked teasingly.

"They taught it but I didn't learn it," Rose said with a laugh.

"We're expecting," Lily said after taking a deep breath.

"Really?" Rose squeaked out after a moment of shock. "A baby! Congratulations!"

"How far along are you?" Their mother asked after a round of hugs.

"About three months now," Lily said, grinning widely. "We were waiting until the second trimester to tell anyone, just in case." She didn't finish the sentence, but it added to Rose's idea that the war was worse then it had been before she had left.

"That's fantastic," Rose said, hugging Lily again. Her stomach was still as flat as ever, but Rose could easily imagine her with a rounded belly. "When's the due date exactly?"

"August fifth," James said, beaming like a proud parent already. Rose could practically feel the excitement radiating from the couple as they said their farewells and left. Rose watched as they both disappeared from the front porch with a pop, then went back to the kitchen to finish washing the dishes.

A week later Rose went out shopping for some things for Christmas Eve dinner, which would be spent with just the three girls, and their mother, as they had planned earlier in the week. Petunia was a little hesitant about spending time with Lily, but she had agreed after a little wheedling from Rose.

Rose had borrowed her mothers car to go shopping as she also had a bit of last minute gift searching to do. She was gone most of the afternoon, and when she returned, she was shocked to find the street crowded with cars and trucks, some with flashing lights atop them. She pulled over as she got near her house, and left the car running as she sprinted towards the smoking building she had grown up in.

"Mum!" She shouted, making the onlookers fall silent as she pushed through them. "Mum!"

A fireman caught her around the waist as she pushed through the line of bystanders.

"Miss, please calm down, you can't go in there," the man said, but Rose was beyond listening by that point.

"Please," she begged without realizing it. Tears were falling down her face. "Please, my mum was in there. You have to get her out."

"Come over here," the man said softly, though Rose wasn't listening. Her eyes were scanning the people nearby, looking for a glimpse of her mothers gray hair. "Sit down, take deep breaths."

Rose obeyed, taking a deep breath in. She could smell smoke and soaked wood, so she blew the breath out again, then repeated the action.

"My mother," she repeated after a moment. "Is she... was she inside?" The two story house was only about half a story tall now, the second floor had caved in on the first floor at some point.

"I'm so sorry," the fire man said, and Rose didn't need to hear anything else. A sob ripped from her chest, and she dissolved into tears.

The man left there to cry for a bit, and she did, but she also listened to their conversation. Her mother had died from smoke inhalation, they said. The dog had been found too, near her mothers body. It had also suffocated.

"Ma'am," another man said, coming over to her after a while. "Is it alright if we ask some questions?" Rose nodded, not trusting her voice at the moment.

"Was there anyone else in the house besides your mother?" He asked, his tone business like rather than comforting, which surprisingly made her feel a little better. Well, it slowed her tears a bit. She shook her head. "Were there any other pets sides the one dog?" He asked, and she shook her head again, knowing that Winnie, her owl, was currently off delivering a letter to Lily about their Christmas Eve dinner plans. "Do you have anyone we can call for you?" The man asked.

"My sister Petunia," Rose finally said, her voice cracking. She knew that Lily and James didn't have a phone at home. She would have to wait for her owl to return to give Lily the news. She gave Petunia's number to the man, and he walked off a little ways to make the call. He returned a moment later, holding the phone out to Rose. "Tuney?" Rose asked, her voice small.

"Rosie," Petunia said, and Rose was almost surprised at the nickname. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Rose said. "I was- I was at the store."

"Sh," Petunia said, trying to sooth Rose's crying. "It's going to be alright. Can you come over here or should I arrange a ride to pick you up?"

"I have the car," Rose said, her words a little more understandable as her tears subsided a little. "Can I stay with you?"

"Yes of course," Petunia said. "I'll see you in a while. Um, have you called Lily?"

"No," Rose said, a new set of tears leaking over her cheeks. "She doesn't have a phone."

"Right," Petunia said. "Well, we will figure it all out. Just come over here."

"Okay," Rose said, her voice a whisper now. "I'll see you soon." She gave the phone back to the man and stood, hugging her arms over her chest.

"Ma'am, would you like us to drive you somewhere?" The man asked, and Rose looked up at him and rolled her shoulders back as she made an effort to slow her tears.

"No, thank you," she said, wiping her eyes one final time. "I will go and stay with my sister."

"Very good," the man said, giving her a pat on the arm. "Someone will be in contact with you tomorrow."

"Okay," Rose said, then turned her back on the man. The onlookers had been shooed away, and she had a clear path to her car. Someone had turned the engine off and shut the door, but the keys and all her groceries and presents were still there. She started the car and somehow managed to make the fifteen minute drive to Petunia's house in Little Winging.

She parked the car on the street, but didn't grab any of the bags. Petunia pulled the door open before Rose had gotten out of the car. She was crying too, which set Rose into tears again, and the two girls stood in the drive, hugging awkwardly over Petunia's protruding belly for a few minutes.

"Come on," Petunia finally said, pulling back from Rose. "Lets go inside."

"I have some groceries in the car..." Rose said, her voice exhausted.

"Vernon can get them," Petunia said, grabbing her sisters hand to pull her into the house. She exchanged a few words with Vernon that Rose didn't listen to, then pulled Rose down onto the couch and disappeared for a moment, returning a bit later with a steaming cup of tea.

"Rose," Petunia said, getting the younger girls attention. Rose looked up, then accepted the cup of tea with a sigh. She hadn't realized how cold her hands had been until she held the warm cup.

"We need to tell Lily," Rose said after a few moments of silence.

"Yes," Petunia said, and Rose was almost astonished that the mention of her sister hadn't come with the twist of the mouth it usually did. "Do you have, um, a way to write to her?"

"An owl?" Rose clarified, shaking her head a little. "She's out delivering a letter right now. I don't know how long it'll take her to find me."

"Right," Petunia said, her mouth taking on its slight sneer now. Rose sighed. "Do any of her... friends, um, have a way to get a hold of her?"

"Oh," Rose said, frowning in thought. She hadn't even thought about whether any of the others could contact Lily faster than an owl could. "Yes, Remus had a phone, and I think I remember the number. Can I borrow yours?"

"Yes," Petunia said with a sigh. Rose stood to go to the wall, then pulled down the phone and dialed and waited with a held breath.

"Hello?" The soft voice on the other line was familiar to Rose, and she let her breath out as a sigh of relief.

"Remus?" Rose asked, her voice a little strained. "This is Rose."

"Rose? Is everything alright?" Remus asked, and Rose let out a little smile a the worried tone. "Are you okay?"

"No," Rose said. "Well, I mean, yes, I'm okay, but I need to get a hold of Lily as fast as possible and my owl is away and I was hoping you could have some faster way to contact her since she doesn't have a phone."

"Yes, of course," Remus said immediately. "What's the message?"

"Um, can you just tell her that, well there was a fire, and I'm at Petunia's now and I'm fine, but mum- mum didn't get out of the fire," Rose said, tears spilling over again.

"Oh," Remus said, his voice sad. "Rose, I'm so sorry."

"Can you tell Lily please?" Rose asked again, trying not to sniffle into the phone.

"Yes, of course, I'll do it right now," Remus said, and she heard him mutter something away from the receiver for a moment before he was talking again. "I've sent her a patronus," he said. "It'll get there within a few minutes. Is there anything else you need?"

"No, thank you," Rose said with a tired sigh. "Thank you Remus."

"It's no problem," he said. "Let me know if there is anything I can do."

"I will," Rose said. "Thank you. I'll talk to you again soon I expect."

"Okay, Bye Rose," Remus said, then hung up the phone. Rose returned the phone to the receiver and went back to Petunia's living room.

"He's going to tell Lily," Rose said, leaving out any mention of magic, knowing it would just annoy Petunia.

They were all quiet for a few minutes. Rose was the first to realize what the loud crack from outside meant, and she kept to her feet and ran to the door, pulling it open to admit a tearful Lily.

Petunia and Lily developed a truce of sorts as the three of them mourned together in the living room late into the night, sharing stories and crying and talking. Petunia hadn't been told about Lily's pregnancy yet, and it was something that cheered her up a little, and the older girl even refrained from making any comments about the magic the baby doubtless would have.

They talked a little bit about funeral arraignments, deciding to wait until after Christmas, as the holiday was only four days away now. Lily invited Petunia and Vernon to their house for dinner, but Petunia refused. At least she was polite about it, and Lily ignored the unspoken words behind the refusal.

The three girls finally retired in the early hours of the morning, Lily and Rose sharing the guest bed.


End file.
